


A Bad Pickup Line Walked Into a Bar

by PlutoApologist



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Lesbians, duels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28356669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlutoApologist/pseuds/PlutoApologist
Summary: A bad pickup line can lead to so much more...
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Kudos: 26





	A Bad Pickup Line Walked Into a Bar

The Jewel Yard was the finest saloon in the town. The Silver Bullet’s ballads could calm any soul, no matter how wild it was. The Silver Bullet had been singing at the Greene Coin for a long time, even when his hair wasn’t turning silver like his name and he went by his real name. His voice had indeed tamed many a soul, as there was a strict no violence rule in The Jewel Yard. The only heat allowed was the dances of Angie Dickinson, which had stirred many a heart through her enchanting smile and flashes of skin that her energetic moves showed off. There was another person that stirred Emma Nolan’s heart though. Stirred her heart so vigorously that it jumped into her throat and she could hardly speak a word. There were many words she could use to describe Alyssa Greene, but Alyssa would probably never hear them or even realize she existed. 

The more she learned about Alyssa, the more she yearned to be closer to her. She ran over the words at night, whispering them only to herself and the stars, imagining she was saying them to Alyssa. The words followed her into her dreams, full of honeyed words that flowed like a river between them. Sometimes the words turned into tenderly brushing a piece of hair aside and their hands barely touching and then lightly caressing each other and- well, it didn’t matter. After all, she only ever wound up with a cold feeling beside her and an aching silence in her heart. Even the stars, her constant companions, felt cold and unwelcome after that. All the stories they told her were no comfort without someone by her side to share them with. A tap on her shoulder startled her from her reflections and Emma jumped back in surprise, spilling her drink on the table. When she finally looked up, she found a kind and ruddy face of an older man looking at her. Of course she had embarrassed herself in front no other than the Silver Bullet himself.

“Take it easy there, I didn’t mean to scare you. You spook real easy, you know that?” he said, his eyes lighting up in laughter. His voice was melodious even in his laughter. Emma joined in quietly, her voice tight. 

“I was just lost in thought.” The Silver Bullet raised his eyebrows and Emma looked down at her fingernails, suddenly very self conscious of the state of her, well, everything. Her fingernails still had dirt on them and the wear and tear was obvious in her clothes compared to the Silver Bullet’s shining buttons.  
“Were you thinking about anything in particular?”

“No offense, but I wouldn’t tell you. You’re practically a stranger.”

“Does my reputation mean nothing to you?!” The Silver Bullet balked, his mouth comically wide. Emma chuckled again, her voice ringing out clear and unafraid this time. Alyssa looked over, turning away from her conversation and tilting the corner of her mouth up slightly, her eyes soft. He sent Alyssa a knowing look but she avoided his gaze, sharply turning around and feigning attention to the conversation. Emma was still in stitches at his indignant expression, blind to Alyssa’s keen eyes. 

“Obviously, I know about you. I’ve seen you before. I don’t really know you, though.”

“How about my name? You can call me Barry.” He held a hand out and Emma reluctantly shook it, her smile starting to become a thin nervous line. Alyssa’s eyes continued to flit over to Emma, hiding her face behind a tall glass. 

“Now that I’m not a stranger, are you willing to tell me who you’re thinking about?”

“Did you say who?” 

“Did I?” Barry asked innocently, cocking his head to the side. Emma took a sip of what was left of her drink, looking into the distance, her eyes sharp and forlorn. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Alright, you caught me. But look, everyone here knows you and Alyssa are both lovesick for each other. If it was a sickness, you two would be contagious.”

“Well, everyone’s wrong. There’s no way she likes me.”

“So, you admit you love her?”

“I didn’t say love,” Emma balked, her eyes wide. Barry smirked but it started to fade as she squeezed her glass tighter. He cautiously rubbed her shoulder, pursing his lips tightly.

“I’ve been there kid. I’m sorry I was too forward with my questions. Sometimes I get too excited about young love.” 

“It’s not young love. I’m not even sure how I feel, but I know for sure she doesn’t see me that way,” Emma sighed, leaning on her hand wearily. He shook his head and barked out a laugh quietly, till he was cut off by a sharp nudge from her. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just so obvious she’s sweet on you. She always asks about you or talks about you. She comes to me at the end, every time you come, with some new fact that she picked up about you or heard, with the biggest smile on her face. Most of it is rumors, but these days I’m just glad to see the kid smile.” Her face lit up and she shyly brushed her hair over as much of her face as she could. Barry couldn’t help but smile. It had been a long time since he’d seen love as pure as theirs. “She calls you the mysterious stranger. She couldn’t take your eyes off you when you played that song on guitar here. I’ve sung here since she was young and she hasn’t looked at any of the men her mother set her up with like she looked at you. She looked at you like you hung the moon. She always did, even before you were singing pretty songs about her.”

“Was I that obvious?” Her heart beat loudly in her chest, probably alerting everyone to her little (more or less) secret. Barry shot her a pitying look and she gulped down the rest of her drink, letting the bitter taste engulf her instead of her embarrassment. 

“If it’s any consolation, she was just as obvious. I forgot what fools love can make of people.”

“Alyssa’s not a fool! She’s enchanting and smart and kind and-” Barry shot her a look, eyes pointed but gentle, and Emma laughed, cutting off her rant. She laughed for the innocent person she was before she knew there was a chance, though the pesky voice in her head casting doubt didn’t disappear completely. She bit her lip and cast her eyes down. “How can you be sure?”

“No way to tell but talking to her.”

“I’m not that kind of person.”

“What kind of person are you?”

“The kind of person who gets too tongue tied to say anything and who settles for yearning from afar. I’m happy enough,” Emma said, shooting him a tired smile. Barry heaved a heavy sigh and rested a hand on her shoulder. 

“This doesn’t seem like happiness to me. What could go wrong?”

“Everything.”

“What could go right?”

“...Everything,” She replied quietly, reverently, her thoughts far from the present. Her mouth started to tilt into a goofy smile. Barry glanced toward Alyssa and nudged her out of her seat. 

“Then go get her.” 

“I can’t thank you enough, I-” Barry held up a hand, shooing her away. Her face fell and he quickly spoke up.

“Don’t thank me till you’ve given that girl the best kiss of her life.” Emma exhaled and he squeezed her shoulder, a coy expression settling onto his face. She took a deep breath and made her way to Alyssa at the bar, hiding her trembling hands in her pockets. She thanked her lucky stars Alyssa was away from her friends. 

“Hey Shelbs, what did you want ag-” Alyssa asked nonchalantly, turning to face Emma. Alyssa’s breath hitched and she leaned against the bar, eyes searching Emma’s chestnut eyes in amazement. Emma leaned on the bar next to her, the distance between their hands becoming tantalizingly close. Alyssa looked away from Emma’s eyes sharply, suddenly very interested in the fine mahogany wood of the bar. “Sorry, you’re clearly not-that was dumb.”

“It’s my fault, I was the one who startled you.”

“Don’t be sorry! It’s actually really a nice surprise.”

“Really?” Alyssa slid onto a bar stool and nodded dumbly, her cheeks darkening. She slid her hand closer to Emma’s. Emma took that as a dare and slid hers even closer, her heart pounding through her chest. Alyssa smelled faintly of wood smoke past the alcohol on her breath and maybe that was why Everywhere felt warm all of a sudden, but it could also be what felt like her staring into Emma’s soul. Little did she know that Alyssa was doing exactly that and saw something to be treasured that matched hers perfectly. 

“It’s not everyday I meet a beautiful stranger,” Alyssa purred, low and sweet, enough to make her chest thrum. Suddenly, Emma was very glad she was sitting down or she might have swooned right into her arms. She chuckled nervously and looked around her, eyes comically wide.

“I don’t see any beautiful strangers around,” Emma said playfully. Alyssa put her hand on her hand on her arm and suddenly, her dreams seemed very real. She felt so light, she could have floated through the roof. Suddenly, her laughter was ringing loudly in Emma’s ear and her head was buried in Emma’s shirt on her shoulder and she could feel the vibrations buzzing throughout her body and she wasn’t just floating now, she was a ghost rising to heaven. 

“You’re funny stranger. Care to tell me your name?” Alyssa said, giggles still erupting throughout her words like perfectly imperfect punctuation to her sentence. It took all of Emma’s concentration to focus on her words instead of how much Alyssa’s eyes reminded her of the stars right now. 

“Emma.”

“Emma, Emma, Emma.” She said her name like a revelation, then a prayer then a celebration, while her heart was doing flip after flip. Alyssa lifted her head from her shoulder, her warmth already sorely missed, even with all the alcohol coursing through her. It couldn’t replace the feeling of her curls tickling her skin and the comforting solid weight. “Your name fits you. It’s cute, just like you.”

“You’re so drunk.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not telling the truth,” Alyssa frowned. Emma couldn’t resist her puppy dog eyes and slid a trembling hand over Alyssa’s. Her mouth stretched into a thin line, her eyes taking on an earnest expression. Her next words came out in a rambling stream, without any pauses for breath. “I’ve wanted to approach you for the longest time, but I didn’t want to make you nervous. You were radiant, even after coming in sweaty and covered in dirt. I wanted to talk to you, so badly, but the words had to be perfect for you and they were never good enough. I know it’s ridiculous because I didn’t even know you, but you were captivating and I couldn’t stop thinking about you and now I’m probably making you nervous anyway-”

Emma gently tilted her chin up, concern painting her features. She could feel Alyssa’s racing pulse underneath and was grateful to find that their hearts were competing to see who could go the fastest. This was frankly inconvenient to Alyssa, who now found it even harder to take a breath. She managed to breathe despite Emma’s breathtaking well, everything

“Hey, it’s okay. Relax. I’m gonna try something, but you have to promise not to laugh.” Alyssa nodded dumbly, still busy committing the last moment to memory. Emma put on a mask of being suave, ending up looking more like a botched portrait, and took a deep breath before uttering, “Are you an outlaw, because I want to take you out.”

Alyssa’s mouth twitched with the effort of not laughing, until she couldn’t stop it and her laughter came out in a tremendous bursts. Emma opened her mouth in an offended ‘o’, but her eyes creasing and twitching at the side of her mouth gave away her act. 

“You promised not to laugh,” Emma whined, only making her laugh harder. She would have fallen out of her chair if Emma hadn’t caught. Eventually, her howls of laughter turned into a few occasional twitches and she gulped, finally noticing Emma’s hand still resting on her arm from catching her. She gulped, perusing the toned muscles. “Okay, you’re right, it was pretty bad. But I was… what I was trying to say is that you don’t have to be scared. Because I feel the same way. I really do want to take you out.”

Alyssa froze, butterflies starting to bloom in her chest. Emma stared deep in Alyssa’s eyes, the want in her eyes shining through, and Alyssa met her gaze. Emma started to lean in, her entire body yearning to be in Alyssa’s gravity. 

“Is that a threat?” Alyssa whispered smokily, leaning closer to her ear. Emma’s skin positively tingled at the warmth of her breath on her face. 

“Only if you want it to be,” Emma purred. Alyssa took her hand and led her outside, practically dragging her out in excitement. The sun was just beginning to sink into the dessert, tinges of dark purple starting to seep into the sky. With nothing but them, the chirp of insects and a few nickers from horses, nervousness slowly crept back. “How about we make this more interesting?”

“How do you propose we do that?” Alyssa raised an eyebrow, trailing a finger down the other’s arm. Emma slung an arm around her shoulders, meeting her glance with a cocky smirk. 

“See that bottle over there?” Emma said, pointing at a bottle sitting on top of a barrel on the other side of the street. “We walk ten paces from it and whoever shoots it first, we go back to their place.”

“The rumors say you’re good with a gun,” Alyssa said, slipping her hand into Emma’s smoothly. Both of their palms were sweaty but it didn’t matter, what mattered was that their hands fit together like puzzle pieces. 

“Don’t believe everything you hear. Are you sure you aren’t just scared?”

“As if,” Alyssa scoffed. “Challenge accepted.”

They rose together, hands linked, hearts beating in tandem. It was hard to tear herself away from Alyssa’s grasp but she slipped her hand out and started walking away from her.

1

Her warm eyes, crinkling at the corners. 

2

Emma could do this, even if her hands were starting to tremble.

3

She was what Alyssa wanted. Maybe her dreams weren’t just dreams after all.

4

Dreams didn’t make you shiver or throw your whole life into another orbit.

5

Maybe, just maybe, it was more than that.

6

It was scary, being helpless to the whims of your heart.

7

Maybe it wasn’t so bad though.

8

Meeting Alyssa felt like coming home. She got butterflies, swarms and swarms of them when Alyssa smiled at her. 

9

What was that feeling?

Oh.

Her feet were creating a dust cloud behind her and heading away Alyssa before she knew what was happening. Just as she was about to hop onto her horse and get as far away as she could, a gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her. 

“Emma, what’s wrong?” She turned around with wide panicked eyes, avoiding Alyssa’s eyes. Her hand trailed down her arm and came to rest on top of her hand. Alyssa gently squeezed her hand. “Are you an outlaw, because I’d like to take you out?”

Emma huffed out a small chuckle and finally met her eyes. Alyssa finally took in a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “You can tell me what’s wrong. If it’s about the game, it doesn’t matter. I just want to be with you, it doesn’t matter where it is.”

“I was trying to impress you. It was just us and I couldn’t be sure you still wanted me, so of course I come up with a stupid game I can’t even win.”

“You don’t need to impress me. I want to know the real you.” 

“I want to show you something,” Emma said, holding out a hand for Alyssa to get onto her horse. She gladly took it, tentatively putting her arms around Emma’s middle. Emma took one of her hands and pressed a light kiss to it. Emma lowered her hand back to around her stomach and set her hand on top of Alyssa’s. Alyssa burrowed her head in Emma’s shoulder and let herself be lulled by the light rocking and moon starting to rise. 

“We’re here.” 

“But, there’s nothing here.”

“Exactly.” They got off and Emma gently rubbed her faithful steed’s snout. Alyssa tentatively joined her, breathing a sigh of relief when the horse didn’t move, only closing its eyes contentedly. 

“You’re lucky she likes you. Pebbles doesn’t normally like people that much.”Alyssa flushed, warm despite the chilly air sending shivers through her. She quizzically followed Emma to a spot and laid down next to her, snuggling in close to her side. “This is why it’s my favorite spot. It’s far away enough from the town that I can see the stars perfectly.”

“I see why you like it,” Alyssa breathed, staring at Emma’s awestruck expression and rosy cheeks. 

“See that group of stars? With the square in the middle?” Emma asked, pointing up. Alyssa tore her gaze away from Emma’s eyes, following her hand up the sky. She hummed and nodded into Emma’s shoulder. “That’s the stallion. It was wild all it’s life, even though many people tried to tame it. It wanted to be free even after it died, so it went to the stars.”

“Is that true?”

“...No. I made it up.”

“Tell me another story,” Alyssa said, snuggling in closer and shivering. Emma frowned, her eyebrows furrowing adorably. 

“Are you cold?”

“No, I just wanted to be closer to you,” Alyssa said, looking to the side with doe eyes. Emma rolled her eyes lovingly and sat up slightly, taking her jacket off. Alyssa slid it on and rolled back into Emma’s side. She wrapped her arms around her, only slightly forgetting how to breath when Emma gently brushed her thumb over her palm. “You still owe me another story.”

“See those stars? That’s the lovers. They were parted through all their life, only able to talk to each other through letters. When they died, they got to be together in the stars. Some even say that all the other stars are the letters they wrote to each other, memorialized forever.”

Maybe someday, Emma hoped they would join the stars themselves. For now, she would focus on having someone she loved cuddled close to her, laughing and gasping at the tales she spun. That was more than enough.


End file.
